Small Business PTO and Vacation Policy - Any thoughts?

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July 31, 2024

by a searcher from Emory University in Marietta, GA, USA

I am just working on updating the Paid Time Off (Holiday) Policy for the Company I acquired. Most of our staff are office workers. Our current policy is:
- 10 days PTO + 6 office holidays (16 total); sick leave is taken as PTO;
- after 5 years of service the PTO increases to 15 days

What is your PTO & Sick leave policy? What do you think is reasonable for small businesses with office workers?

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Reply by a searcher
in Tampa, FL, USA
Super helpful info shared here and especially good points to be mindful of from ^redacted‌ re the accumulation and ^redacted‌ re market. The point possibly left to address is the Sick Day policy. Owners will always feel differently especially gut reaction compared to employees when it comes to sick days (real or phantom) and how they are treated. Owners/management show up to work even if they had an arm amputation that AM and some employees call out just because they stepped into a puddle in the driveway.

What I have found to work the best from a culture standpoint is that the ownership should err on the side of the employee perspective. And the first step is to view the employees not as employees but as team members. It helps to start a mindset shift and you become a little less dollars and cents focused and a little more human and culture focused.

I found that a generous (10+days or unlimited) sick day policy is the way to go. 1) it does not give the impression that ownership is "stingy" - making me take vacation because I or my family is sick 2) great interview/hiring talking point and market differentiator because most blue collar and still many white collar SMBs will not have a similar policy. 3) you will quickly find out how strong your company culture is. If it is primarily transaction between you and your team - then the policy will most likely become abused. This would be a great sign to coach and develop the individual and team or cut the person and build the team and culture that you are looking for.

Happy to chat further if needed.
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Reply by a searcher
from North Park University in Orlando, FL, USA
Hi Anand - It depends a little on the market location and your industry if there are standards that you are competing against. But without knowing that, you probably aren't too off base. I did see a trend up in PTO with employers working to be more competitive to attract and retain people in###-###-#### PTO + holidays is now fairly standard in professional services businesses. Depending on how hard it is to find /retain people in your business, you might consider shortening the timeframe to get to 15 days to 1 year and then going to 20 PTO days after 5 years. If it's not broke and you have good employee retention, you probably don't need to adjust. Happy to discuss more if you would like. redacted
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